In Sidle Creek, McIlwain interrogates the myths and stereotypes of the mining, mill, and farming towns where she grew up. With stories that take place in diners and dive bars, town halls and bait shops, McIlwain explores themes of class, work, health, and trauma, and the unexpected human connections of small, close-knit communities.
The 22 stories in Sidle Creek charm, surprise, and convey a deep love of the people and place McIlwain has long called home ... Sidle Creek's stories largely focus on people who are making their lives where they were born and raised, as well as some who have come from away — and the small and large dramas of their lives are rendered in beautiful prose.
A stunning new collection of short fiction ... The first-person-plural of the story is only one of the thrilling narrative devices that McIlwain uses to tell her linked stories ... McIlwain brings to life a luminous world of plants and animals that even the extraction industries, sleazy bettors and smooth-talking city hunters "with slick cars and six-figure salaries" cannot destroy
